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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 22 - Sower
Mark 4:21-25
21 And [kai] he said [lego] unto them [autos] , Is [meti] a candle [luchnos] brought [erchomai] to [hina] be put [tithemi] under [hupo] a bushel [modios] , or [e] under [hupo] a bed [kline] ? and not [ou] to [hina] be set [epitithemi] on [epi] a candlestick [luchnia] ?
22 For [gar] there is [esti] nothing [ou] hid [kruptos] [tis] , which [hos] shall [phaneroo] not [ean me] be manifested [phaneroo] ; neither [oude] was any thing kept [ginomai] secret [apokruphos] , but [alla] that [hina] it should come [erchomai] abroad [eis] [phaneros] .
23 If any man [ei tis] have [echo] ears [ous] to hear [akouo] , let him hear [akouo] .
24 And [kai] he said [lego] unto them [autos] , Take heed [blepo] what [tis] ye hear [akouo] : with [en] what [hos] measure [metron] ye mete [metreo] , it shall be measured [metreo] to you [humin] : and [kai] unto you [humin] that hear [akouo] shall more be given [prostithemi] .
25 For [gar] [an] he that [hos] hath [echo] , to him [autos] shall be given [didomi] : and [kai] he that [hos] hath [echo] not [ou] , from [apo] him [autos] shall be taken [airo] even [kai] that which [hos] he hath [echo] . KJV-Interlinear
21 And He was saying to them, 'A lamp is not brought to be put under a peck-measure, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought to be put on the lampstand? 22 'For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light. 23 'If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.' 24 And He was saying to them, 'Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it shall be measured to you; and more shall be given you besides. 25 'For whoever has, to him shall more be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.' NASB
Luke 8:16-18
16 'Now no one after lighting a lamp covers it over with a container, or puts it under a bed; but he puts it on a lampstand, in order that those who come in may see the light. 17 'For nothing is hidden that shall not become evident, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light. 18 'Therefore take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him shall more be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.' NASB
Gods gifts and grace make a person into a candle of sorts. Candles do not give off a great deal of light, and such is the extent of our impact on history - very little. But when God lights us up with truth, then it is intended to be seen and utilized and not hidden, Prov. 20:27.
Those who are good ought to consider the obligations they are under to do good. That is, as in the verses before, to bring forth fruit. God expects a grateful return of his gifts
We are not here on earth for ourselves, not for our own pleasures, but for the benefit of others. Wherein we learn for our self in order to grow up, and then we are to use that which we know and the talents which God gives us along with everything which God gives us in support of our lives here on this earth, to live out our own life and to help others as need be.
We have already put a simple check list (see the Index page on the web site) together to measure our compliance with Gods will for our lives. But here Jesus is explaining exactly what our life is all about.
Most folks ignore God and their own spiritual life. They are indifferent to doctrine. The world is a powerful distraction, and ones daily life can place tremendous burdens on ones preferences. We look to our own happiness and fulfillment through the things of the world.
For some it is social life. For others it is a hobby or an interest of some kind. For others it might be the pursuit of work or the accumulation of assets or money. For others it might just be having nice things, and for others life is just a bore. They just want to get home from work, pay the bills, and watch TV.
Remember that our life is not designed for this world at all, but for eternity. We are here and we are supported here with varying degrees of logistical support to get us through this life. We have a job or a talent. We have an income or we receive support from some source. We have clothes, food, transportation, even entertainment and more, but all of this is not the spiritual life, and all of this will cease when we depart this life.
God gives us time, doctrine, and volition to learn truth and to grow up spiritually in order to be prepared for the next life. Everything else in life now, just supports that effort - or that is the intent.
Likewise, anything you learn is intended to be used, so that others might learn from you. Sure we are not perfect and all of us have our failings, but we (each one of us) are not the issue. Bible doctrine is. People are not to judge God by us, but by His word. We are however, one source for the teaching and learning of others. God is able to teach despite our flaws. And people will learn when they become objective and listen to the Word of God and not focus on our individual lives.
No person should be set up as an idol of perfection. All images fall down sooner or later. Hollywood stars, professional athletes and others are a prime example of this.
So what about our candle light? That is the illumination is what we possess - doctrine in our soul. You cannot illuminate yourself unless you utilize the fuel (oil) which makes the candle burn. Oil is the doctrine in the soul which feeds the fire of truth.
So obviously you have to learn before you possess the doctrine. And learning requires a daily ritual of study and dedication to that end.
Hiding under the bed or under the bushel leaves no light, therefore it means that there is no application of doctrine, and that means the spiritual life is short circuited and not going anywhere.
People who learn and grow up, possess spiritual growth. They have been true to God and the expectations which God has of us. God rewards those who have a spiritual life. The more growth, the more reward.
But as for those who have nothing, then they generally pretend or presume that their own invented beliefs are enough. They assume that they have a spiritual life. They assume that their chosen life style, their chosen course through life, that their doing that which they believe is right in life, is enough. And they are wrong.
Whether by indifference or disinterest, or outright rejection of Gods Word, they believe that they have a better way of pursuing life. Some pursue crusades in politics or in some social arena. Others just try to fit in with life and hope that everything will get better or at least not get worse. The hope is that whatever they do, is enough, and when they go to heaven (assumed), then they will be accepted because they did that which they thought was right. They tried at least.
And that is all an illusion. What they think they have will be taken away from them. Their false sense of worth will be erased and they will have nothing.
Now the question here is, 'What are you losing, or what are you left with?' And that answer is, your spiritual growth or lack of it.
The soul was designed to live forever with God in eternity. In order to do that it needs a connecting point. That is the human spirit. When you believe in Christ, you receive that vessel (humans spirit) with its life component (eternal life). But now you are but an infant spiritually and need to grow up. That requires learning from God, and that comes from the scriptures. You learn and then you apply to your life the things you learn. You develop norms standards which guide your life. You recognize responsibilities and you become responsible and do that which is expected of you, and more. That is a sign of a maturing process.
All of this when done within the fellowship environment, builds up spiritual muscle, or spiritual assets in the soul. This is often called divine good, or gold, silver, and precious stones, or good fruit, or spiritual production. Whatever you wish to call your spiritual productiveness, that is the result of your application of Gods word to your soul. That is your spiritual growth.
Conversely, when you choose to live outside of fellowship, then your production or presumed 'good' status is really wood, hay, and stubble. And that is really the results of investing in nothing. When we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, we will be exposed to a cleansing fire which will not touch the true spiritual production, but will destroy all of the bad production (ie. wood, hay and stubble). The negative or marginally productive believer will be left standing there before Christ with nothing or very little, when all the bad is burned away.
So God rewards us with the same principles we establish for ourselves in life. If we choose Gods principles, then His rewards will be great, because His principles are great and perfect. If we adopt worldly or our own invented principles of life, then God will deal with us accordingly. We give nothing and so we get nothing.
God gave each one of us life and the many resources in life to make it better and advance us to spiritual maturity. God expects a return on that which He loaned to us. That is spiritual growth.
If we do not grow up spiritually, then we have in effect hidden our gift, buried a trust, and that amounts to a forfeiture of any reward, payment, return which we might otherwise be entitled to.
If we advance in our spiritual life then we will receive appropriately great returns. If we advance nowhere, then we receive nothing. Your spiritual results really depends on your consistent attitude toward God and doctrine.
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Study to show thyself approved (mature) unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing (studying/discerning), the Word of truth.
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